The nutrients in the food and beverages you consume are absorbed into your blood stream and could impact factors measured by certain tests. Tests to determine your lipid levels (cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL) usually require fasting. You also will be told to fast before glucose testing. Other tests may also require fasting. If you don’t fast, or fast for a shorter time than prescribed, your tests could give inaccurate results, meaning you’ll likely have to repeat the test.

Fasting is when you consume no food or drinks, with the exception of water, for a set period of time. It’s important to drink plenty of water, not just because you’re not eating, but because it’s easier to draw blood from your veins when you’re well hydrated.

If you think fasting is going to be a problem for you, please discuss it with us prior to your scheduled test.

Some specialty lab tests are covered by insurance and some aren't. In addition, some laboratories bill insurance and some don't. Our specialty laboratories that do bill insurance for running your tests collect a lab copay as part of a “preferred pay” program and promise not to balance bill you, even if your insurance refuses to pay. In this case, you may receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) in the mail from your insurance company. This is NOT a bill; it is simply an explanation of how your insurance decided to pay what the lab billed them. If your insurance is Out-Of-Network with the lab, your insurance may pay you directly; it is your responsibility to forward this payment with the EOB to the lab in order to settle your account.

If you receive an unexpected bill from a Labratory, please check with the Labratory directly to make sure that they have correctly billed your insurance and/or that they have received your "preferred payment."

Please call the Customer Service number on the invoice you received from the Lab.